The depth of their collective experience is evident in this youthful, highly expressive reading of the opera's 1774 Paris version, which sounds incredibly fresh and often totally wild.

Record Review /
Music Week (London) / 29. May 2004

What makes the set indispensible is the thrilling direction by Minkowski and the exhilaration of his orchestra.

Record Review /
Hugh Canning,
The Sunday Times (London) / 13. June 2004

. . . the later "Orphée", as Gluck envisaged it, remains a rarity, so much so that this recording, taken from stage performances in Poissy, France, two years ago, is the first of the complete 1774 score using period instruments. It is thrilling to hear, mainly because the playing and choral singing of Les Musiciens du Louvre under Marc Minkowski is so direct and boldy theatrical . . . this performance is a revelation -- grippingly dramatic. Hearing the thrilling effects that Minkowski conjures from his players and soloists, it is much easier to see why Gluck was an important model for many 19th-century opera composers . . .The solo singing, especially from Mireille Delunsch's Eurydice and Richard Croft's Orphée is very accomplished . . .

Record Review /
The Guardian (London) / 18. June 2004

Though Gluck operas can lapse from contemplative nobility into dramatic inertia, this one is as vital and convincing as they come. Both Croft and Delunsch give a life-and-death intensity to the title roles, though the hero, ultimately, is conductor Minkowski. He makes the orchestra storm when appropriate, keeps the dramatic thread going even in endless ballet interludes, and never lets the characters turn into picturesque statues.

. . . outstanding . . . Minkowski's Musiciens du Louvre sustain their usual high standard, both chorally and instrumentally . . . The chorus manages to vary its tone sufficiently for shepherds, furies and spectres, while the orchestra reserves its ultimate virtuosity for an 'Air des Furies', played with a fire that leaves the listener simply awestruck.

Record Review /
Roger Pines,
International Record Review (London) / 01. July 2004

[John Story]: Personally, I find him the most convincing conductor of Gluck now before the public. His rhetorical fire, aided and abetted by the period sonority of his orchestra, gives a dramatic impetus to his readings that I find enthralling . . . The cast is splendid. Richard Croft is a wonderful Orphée . . . His coloratura, complete with an excellent trill, is remarkable in that act-I aria . . . more importantly, his use of verbal nuance and color to express the text is at every point vividly pointed. His rendition of the great act III aria is tremendous . . . Mireille Delunsch has been a stalwart of this series from the beginning and the appetite for her second Iphigénie and, above all, her Alceste, which are presumably forthcoming . . . Minkowski takes Berlioz's suggestion and has Eurydice's act-II aria sung by Claire Delgado-Boge as the unnamed Blessed Spirit . . . Chorus and orchestra are up to the usual standards of this team, as is the recording before an awesomely quiet audience . . . It is a good time to be a Gluck fan.[James Canmer]: As the first recording of Gluck's 1774 "Orphée et Eurydice" . . . Marc Minkowski's new Archiv issue is a standout . . . Most happily, it is also a mostly marvelous recording in its own right, distinguished by the conducting of Marc Minkowski, both vigorous and tender . . . it is impossible not to be transported by the conductor and the wonderful plying of Les Musiciens du Louvre. . . Claire Delgado-Boge sings sweetly as Une Ombre heureuse in the pivotal "Dance of the Blessed Spirits" . . . Marion Harousseau is an unmitigated delight as L'Amour . . .[Brian Robins]: As in the past, it has resulted in an intensely dramatic reading of the score that transmits itself to singers and orchestral players alike. One need only turn to the scene set at the entrance of Hades (act II/i) to be confronted with an utterly electrifying frisson, orchestral playing that sounds as if the very lives of the players are dependent upon it, and choral singing terrifying in the implacability of the "no"s that greet Orphée's plea. Yet there is also much sensitivity in Minkowski's direction . . . Mireille Delunsch's Eurydice is arrestingly tender in her first exchanges with Orphée . . . while Marion Harousseau is a charmingly youthful L'Amore . . . there is no doubting that Minkowski has performed a huge service in bringing us a long over-due and devastatingly theatrical version of the opera.

As always, Minkowski proves to be a livewire conductor, never afraid of an outpouring of emotions that might sweep the music off its feet. This is not a simple matter of speed, though some instrumental movements like the Overture and the 'Air de Furies' are propelled along by a force of energy that is almost explosive . . . What is different about Minkowski is his fluid impulsiveness -- unsettling to anybody used to old-style Gluck perhaps, but how involving this performance is, and how staid and formal most other sound in retrospect . . . Minkowski's choir and players are caught in full flight by Archiv's lively recording, which puts the listener in the best seat of the house. Collectors of Gluck have no reason to hesitate.

Purists tend to regard the French "Orphée" as more dramatically diffuse than the original "Orfeo". This exciting performance, with Richard Croft both lyrical and heroic in the title-role may make them think again . . . conducted with stylistic understanding by Marc Minkowski . . . Croft's pleas to the Furies are movingly eloquent; and taking advantage of the authentic lower pitch, he skilfully manages the high tessitura . . . Both soprano roles are vividly and idiomatically done: Marion Harousseau is knowing, impish, as Cupid, while Mireille Delunsch is a fiery and sensuous Eurydice.